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Default Folder X Improves Mac OS X Open/Save Dialogs

Default Folder X Improves Mac OS X Open/Save Dialogs -- For many years, Macintosh users have enhanced Open and Save dialogs with utilities like Power On Software's Action Files and St. Clair Software's Default Folder. At long last, one of them has come to Mac OS X in the form of Default Folder X 1.0.1 (see "Tools We Use: Default Folder" in TidBITS-475). Default Folder X provides the same basic functionality as its cousin for earlier versions of the Mac OS, which let you access favorite and recently used folders easily in Open and Save dialogs. You can also rename, get info on, and delete files and folders, and open folders in the Finder. Default Folder X also shows your current location and rebounds to the last item selected in a folder. You access these functions through a toolbar attached to the right side of Open and Save dialogs; keyboard shortcuts are also available. However, the new version also includes a gem that makes it a required addition: you can use the keyboard to navigate Mac OS X's columnar dialogs properly. Unlike in Apple's current incarnation of Open and Save dialogs (which we detailed in "Apple's Dirty Little Secret" in TidBITS-601), typing a folder name with Default Folder installed highlights that folder in the list, instead of putting you in some file hierarchy limbo. Currently, the utility works only in Carbon applications, but an upcoming free update will support Cocoa applications as well. Default Folder X is available as a free 30 day trial, after which registration costs $35; owners of Default Folder 3.x can upgrade for $20. The installer is a 1.4 MB download. [JLC]